President Donald Trump got his retribution Tuesday night in Indiana against the state senators who defied his redistricting demands last year.
It couldn’t have come at a better time for him.
At least five of the seven Republican state senators facing Trump-backed challengers lost renomination, including state Sen. Travis Holdman, the chair of the Indiana GOP Senate caucus.
But at least one of those Republicans who voted against the redistricting proposal in December, state Sen. Greg Goode, won his primary. Another, state Sen. Spencer Deery, was in a race too close to call as of late Tuesday night.
Ever since a majority of Indiana state senatorsrejected redistricting, Trump has vowed to make them pay at the ballot box.
Trump’s success on Tuesday could have realimplications for southern states that are now considering whether to redistrict after the Supreme Court gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act last month. Indiana proved there are serious consequences for any Republican state legislators resisting Trump on redistricting.
Meanwhile, Tennessee lawmakers are in the middle of a three-day special session to determine whether to draw out Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen in Memphis. And legislators in South Carolina could also erase the district of Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn. Alabama and Louisiana Republicans are working on redistricting plans, too.
GOP leaders in the South Carolina legislature said they’re unsure they have the requisite votes for a new map. But the results in Indiana may nudge some of those lawmakers toward redistricting.
Ohio primaries. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) will get a rematch with the man she beat last cycle. Republican Derek Merrin won over a crowded primary field for the nomination.
A few noteworthy things about this race: redistricting put Kapturin a slightly tougher seat this cycle. And a third-party candidate helped Kaptur likely prevail in 2024. But the environment is looking much better for Democrats in 2026.
In southwestern Ohio, Republican Eric Conroy will take on Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman. And Democrat Brian Poindexter will face Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio).
A gas pump stands at a station in Manhattan on April 21 in New York City. Most Americans say that high gas prices are straining their household budget, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist poll. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption
With gas prices continuing to surge, more than 8 in 10 Americans said pain at the pump is putting a strain on their household budgets — and a strong majority blames President Trump, according to the latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll.
The poll also found that Trump is more unpopular than he ever has been, and he faces major declines with key groups since being sworn in for a second term. Most Americans said the economy isn’t working for them, and the war in Iran — which has directly led to those higher gas prices — continues to grow more unpopular.
Those challenges have given Democrats a distinct advantage in the midterm elections. Six months from when votes will be counted this November, Democrats lead by 10 points on the congressional ballot test. The ballot test asks which party’s candidate they would vote for if congressional elections took place today.
Democrats also have the edge on enthusiasm to vote, which is critical in midterm years when turnout is expected to be lower than in presidential-election years. Who shows up is a wild card because independents and some groups critical to both parties are not fired up.
The survey of 1,322 respondents was conducted April 27-30 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points, meaning results could be about 3 points higher or lower. Respondents were reached by live caller, text and online.
Trump’s approval is the worst ever in the poll
Just 37% of respondents approve of the job Trump is doing overall, while 59% disapprove. That’s the highest level of disapproval ever in the Marist poll for Trump between both of his terms.
What’s more, 51% strongly disapprove, which is tied for worst ever for Trump in the poll. The number shows the intensity of opposition that he’s facing.
Digging inside the numbers reveals some huge declines with various key voter groups, including with many who were supportive of Trump just after he was sworn into office for a second term.
That includes voters in the South, those who make less than $50,000 a year, white men and women without college degrees, millennials, men, parents of children under 18, rural voters and men in small cities and the suburbs.
Trump has seen declines with other key base voting groups, like white evangelical Christians and rural voters. The slides have been even more pronounced with crossover voters, who helped him over the finish line in 2024, like younger people and many Black and Latino voters.
Even Republicans are not as strongly in support of the president. In February 2025, 88% approved of the job he was doing, while 10% disapproved. That’s a net rating of +78 points. Now, 81% approve and 18% disapprove. That’s still relatively high, but the +63 represents a 15-point net drop in a little over a year.
It’s still the economy …
Trump’s approval ratings have nosedived because of all that’s happened in the past year, including Trump’s tariffs, continued higher-than-pre-COVID-pandemic prices and now rising gas prices because of the Iran war.
Just 35% approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, which is also tied for worst mark in the poll. That record was set in March.
Several factors are piling on voters:
Gas prices have surged to an average of $4.48 a gallon nationally, as of May 5, according to AAA. Before the war, prices were below $3 a gallon on average.
As a result, 81% of respondents said current gas prices are a strain on their household budget, including 79% of Republicans.
By a 63%-37% margin, respondents said they blame Trump for the current increase in gas prices. That includes a third of Republicans.
The same split said the economy is not working well for them personally, the worst recorded in the survey.
A majority (56%) said their area is not very affordable or not affordable at all. Critically, among those saying the economy is not working well for them were white non-college women (72%), those making less than $50,000 a year (71%), millennials (69%) and those 18-29 (65%).
The Trump administration had taken a largely deregulatory approach to artificial intelligence, something that has accounted for major investment and a major share of stock portfolios. But concerns are growing over AI and the future.
The survey found that 8 in 10 believe AI will eliminate more jobs than it creates. That’s up 12 points since last year.
The Iran war continues to be unpopular
Trump’s approval for his handling of Iran has sunk to just 33%. That’s down from 36% in March.
Seventy-two percent of Republicans approve of Trump’s Iran handling, which is down 7 points from March.
By a 61%-38% margin, respondents said the military action in Iran has done more harm than good, including a quarter of Republicans.
More broadly, 62% said Trump’s decisions have weakened the United States on the world stage.
Democrats hold the midterm advantage
By a 52%-42% margin, respondents said they would vote for a Democratic candidate in their district if congressional elections were held today.
That’s a significant gap, and one that in past years has indicated a potential wave election. But there are fewer competitive seats up than ever before because of gerrymandering and other factors.
The election is still six months away, but at this point, Democrats have the edge. That shows up in enthusiasm as well. Democrats are 8 points more likely than Republicans to say they’re “very enthusiastic” to vote — 61%-53%.
There’s also a 14-point enthusiasm gap between people who voted for Democrat Kamala Harris and those who voted for Trump in 2024 (61% vs. 47%).
Just 38% of independents say they’re very enthusiastic, indicating a likely drop-off in turnout this year from the presidential election. Turnout in midterms averages a roughly 30% drop compared to presidential elections. And some key groups for both sides said they’re not very enthusiastic.
The most likely to say they’re very enthusiastic: 60+ (68%), white college men (68%), white college grads (64%), white college women (61%), those 45 and older (61%), college graduates (59%), whites (56%), white men without degrees (56%), those who make more than $50,000 a year (55%) and parents without children under 18 (55%).
White, college-educated voters traditionally vote at higher rates, and they have trended toward Democrats in the age of Trump.
The least likely to say they’re very enthusiastic are those 18-29 years old (34%), Gen Z (35%), millennials (37%), those who make less than $50,000 a year (37%), those younger than 45 (37%), Black voters (39%), parents with children under 18 (40%), Latinos (42%), white women without degrees (45%), Trump voters (47%), those who live in big cities (47%).
From that list, young voters and non-whites are key for Democrats, while parents with young children, white women without degrees and obviously Trump voters are key for Republicans to turn out this fall.
Other findings on voter ID, age in politics and automatic registration for the draft
74% are in favor of requiring government-issued photo ID to be allowed to vote, including 51% of Democrats.
65% support requiring people to show a passport or birth certificate in order to register to vote.
80% support a maximum age limit for members of Congress (there is currently only a minimum age limit).
83% support term limits for members of Congress (putting limits on the number of times they can run for office).
A slim majority (53%) opposes automatic registration into the military’s Selective Service. There’s a big partisan divide on the question — 68% of Republicans are in favor, but just 30% of Democrats are. (The current process requires self-registration.)
As Trump announced late Tuesday that the U.S. mission he launched a day earlier to escort commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz was paused “for a short period of time,” at the request of Pakistan and other countries, more than 60% of Americans believe the president has weakened the nation’s standing on the world stage.
Hundreds of Iranians have been killed and thousands injured in strikes since late February, and at least 13 U.S. service members have died in action. Oil and gas prices have skyrocketed and shipping disruptions have complicated supply chains, driving up prices for food, fertilizer and other goods.
In a Truth Social post about the decision Tuesday, Trump claimed “great progress” toward a deal to end the war, after weeks of a fragile ceasefire and largely stalled talks.
Six in 10 Americans disapprove of the way President Donald Trump is handling his war in Iran, including more than one in five Republicans, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Graphic by Steff Staples/PBS News.
In the U.S., 63% of Americans now blame the president for high gas prices, according to this latest poll. This frustration with Trump and unease with the economy could make it tougher for Republicans to hold on to seats in Congress this November, said Amy Walter, editor of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.
“You get angry people showing up who are no longer just anti-Trump Democrats, they’re also frustrated independents, really driven in large part by the economy,” Walter said. “And then these same economic woes are what are depressing Republican turnout. So you put that whole math together and that is a really dangerous place” for the GOP.
That’s especially true in the context of a midterm election, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, who noted that midterms in the last two decades have tended to be a referendum on an unpopular White House incumbent. Democrats have also done well in recent general and special elections.
The economy, the nation’s international standing and the war are “things that I assume the Republicans are not eager to face voters with in November,” Miringoff said. “They’re all pointed in the wrong direction right now.”
Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran
Sixty percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of Iran, up six points from 54% in March.
Seventy-two percent of Republicans either strongly approve or approve of his actions in Iran so far. But messaging for the broader public has been a key problem for the Trump administration, said Holly Dagres, senior fellow at the Washington Institute. About 61 percent of Americans think U.S. military action in Iran has done more harm than good, the poll found.
“They keep changing the goalposts of what this war is and the reason for it,” said Dagres, who also curates the Substack newsletter The Iranist. Initially, the administration offered regime change and the threat of the country’s nuclear program as reasons for attacking.
Now, Dagres said, the war has pivoted to focusing on the Strait of Hormuz “because it’s also impacting people at the gas pump” — though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a briefing Tuesday that the operation to reopen the passageway is “separate and distinct” from the war.
The growing dissatisfaction with the administration’s actions is true across the political spectrum, with 22% of Republicans disapproving, up from 15% in March, and 64% of independent voters disapproving, up from 59% in March (though the increase among independents is within the poll’s margin of error).
For Republicans, that uptick might be driven by Trump going back on a campaign promise, and, in the view of isolationists, starting “a forever war,” she said. “It’s not been forever, but it’s been months and that in itself is scary, and it goes against this notion of ‘America first.’”
Sixty-two percent of Americans said Trump has weakened the country’s role on the world stage, the highest number Marist has recorded on this question since August 2017. That includes 22% of Republicans.
Independent voter Kevin Dixon, 66, said he believes Trump’s efforts in Iran were “something that needed to be done.”
In addition to changing the Iranian government, Dixon said he thinks Trump is trying to work toward peace in the Middle East.
“If he can actually accomplish his mission, I believe the world would be a better place,” Dixon said.
Dixon, who said he doesn’t want to see a prolonged war, doesn’t think Trump intends to stay in Iran long.
But Jack Clay, 23 and an independent voter, sees the president’s efforts in Iran as “not our war to fight.” He believes Trump has done more harm than good.
“Whenever we started this conflict, we had the Strait of Hormuz open, we were at least in a negotiating position with Iran. Now, all these weeks later, we’re begging to be in the same position. We’re considering it a victory that we’re back to square one. And I just think that’s embarrassing,” Clay said.
Disapproval carries over into economic anxieties
More than 80% of Americans say gas prices are putting a strain on their budget, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Graphic by Steff Staples/PBS News.
The war in Iran has put a stranglehold on global oil and gas exports, and Americans are feeling the effects at the pumps. Gas prices have reached an average of $4.48 per gallon, up from $3.17 a year ago, and 63% of Americans – including the same percentage of independents – blame Trump for that rise. Nearly half of all independents say the president is to blame “a great deal” for the increase.
“That’s something people see, like the cost of milk and the cost of bread,” Miringoff said.
“More than some kind of economic indicator, these are the things that people react to and they see it. I guess it’s the old Marx Brothers like: ‘What are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?’ And in this case, people are experiencing it directly.”
Meanwhile, 32% of Republicans and 26% of people who voted for Trump in 2024 blame the president “a good amount” or “a great deal” for high gas prices.
Americans’ wallets are feeling the pinch from gas prices. In this latest poll, one-third of U.S. adults say gas prices are putting a “major strain” on their budgets — a consistent sentiment across the political spectrum (36% of Democrats, 28% of Republicans and 33% of independents).
Overall, 63% of Americans do not feel the economy is working well for them. That percentage has ticked up slightly since December, and has risen about six percentage points from a year ago.
Disapproval of Trump’s handling of the economy has hit a new high, including during his predecessor former President Joe Biden’s term.
Even after he lost the 2020 election, more Americans approved of how Trump handled the economy (50%) than disapproved (45%). Today, only 35% of Americans approve, while 61% disapprove.
“That’s very closely tied to the gas prices. There’s no more visible reminder of not only where we are right now, but what the Republicans were pointing out of Joe Biden when he was in office, and that has come around full circle to them,” Miringoff said.
Warning signs for Republicans this fall
Overall, Trump’s approval rating remains low; 37% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 59% disapprove — relatively unchanged from March.
That many Americans view Trump’s handling of the economy as poor may be a warning sign for the GOP come this fall, Walter said.
Thirty-seven percent of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 59% disapprove — relatively unchanged from March, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Graphic by Steff Staples/PBS News.
“It’s hard not to connect all those dots to say that the reason his job approval is slumping is because frustration about inflation is rising, and you’re seeing it across all groups of voters now,” she said.
The GOP is still sticking with him, she noted, with 81% of Republicans saying they approve of the job Trump is doing as president. But among white Americans who are not college graduates, 52% say they disapprove.
“That is a core constituency of his, and I would have to believe that it is driven as much by the frustration over inflation as anything else,” Walter said.
If the midterm elections were held today, 52% of registered voters said they would be more likely to vote for the Democratic candidate in their district, compared with 42% who said they would be more likely to vote for the Republican candidate. A plurality of independent voters also said they’d vote for the Democrat (49%) over the Republican (37%).
“The question is how many of them turn out. And the reality is that the angriest ones are probably going to turn out, and they’re going to turn out and vote for Democrats,” Walter said.
“Some of those independents who are disappointed are just not going to show up, but also that’s not great for Republicans either.”
Around 8 in 10 partisan voters said they were either “very enthusiastic” or “somewhat enthusiastic” about voting in November, but Democrats were far more likely to say they were “very enthusiastic.”
Among Democrats, 61% said they were “very enthusiastic” about voting, compared with 53% of Republicans.
“Its not as if these [Republican voters] are going to show up and vote for Democrats,” Walter said. “But them not showing up is almost as bad for Republicans.”
Miringoff said he sees some “soft Republican enthusiasm,” primarily driven by concern about Democrats. But the more telling numbers are among people who voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris versus those who voted for Trump in 2024, he said.
While 61% of Harris voters said they’re very enthusiastic about voting in the midterms, only 47% of Trump voters said the same.
“That’s a big gap, and that’s the kind of thing that has to give pause for Republicans right now, because that’s not what you want to be doing in November,” Miringoff said.
Other highlights from the poll
83% of Americans strongly support or support term limits for members of Congress. 89% of Republicans feel this way. Only 5% of Americans “strongly oppose” term limits
Americans also heavily favor age limits for members of Congress. Eighty percent of Americans support setting a maximum age limit for candidates running for Congress, with 47% strongly in favor.
2 in 3 Americans support requiring people to show proof of citizenship in order to vote, and three quarters of Americans support requiring all voters to show a government-issued photo ID in order to vote.
PBS News, NPR and Marist Poll conducted a survey from April 27-30, 2026, that polled 1,322 U.S. adults by phone, text and online with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, and 1,155 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. For Democrats, the margin of error is 5.6 percentage points; Republicans, 5.7 percentage points; independents, 5.9 percentage points.
A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
“We need the ballroom” for the White House, President Donald Trump asserted to reporters late on April 25, less than two hours after a gunman tried to storm a hotel ballroom where the president was about to speak.
“That’s why Secret Service, that’s why the military are demanding it,” he said from the White House briefing room, following an alleged assassination attempt at the Washington Hilton. “They’ve wanted the ballroom for 150 years.”
There’s no evidence that that’s the case, but the point is clear: President Trump’s planned 90,000-square-foot, highly secure White House ballroom – at the moment still a hole in the ground where the East Wing once stood – is an animating focus of his second term.
Why We Wrote This
Congress may now put $1 billion toward the ballroom project, which has so far been funded through private donations. It reflects President Donald Trump’s effort to leave a physical legacy as well as meet a genuine need.
It’s both a symbol of his desire to create an enduring physical legacy at the heart of American power and an effort to fulfill a genuine need for a larger event space on the White House campus. The project also includes an underground national-security complex.
Ethics experts say the ballroom is a key example of pay-to-play behavior, with wealthy donors and corporations appearing to curry favor with the administration by donating to a favored presidential project.
Some of the donors are known – including major firms in finance, tech, defense, and cryptocurrency – while others remain undisclosed. Some, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Nvidia, have business before the administration, for example in helping to shape policy around artificial intelligence.
But the project also represents the stunning fashion in which Mr. Trump has shattered norms around presidential power, in tearing down the East Wing of the White House last October without advance authorization, ignoring seeming conflicts of interest with private donors, and then trying to secure permission for the new structure only after it was underway.
A worker drinks water as construction continues on a planned White House ballroom in the area of the former East Wing, seen through a window in the East Room, in Washington, May 4, 2026.
“President Trump’s approach to ethics seems to be to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,” says Ann Skeet, senior director of leadership ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.
How the new ballroom will be paid for appears to be in flux. Until last month’s shooting at the Hilton, where Mr. Trump was attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, the $400 million White House ballroom was going to be fully covered by private donations.
Now, after the latest apparent assassination attempt on Mr. Trump, public funding is on the table. One bill introduced by a group of Republicans, led by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, would authorize $400 million to fund construction of the ballroom and the national-security-related facility below it. Senator Graham says national park user fees and customs fees would offset the costs.
Another GOP senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, filed a joint resolution last week to authorize construction of the ballroom and the below-ground security facility, but not to fund the project. “My bill just says it’s authorized, and if he has the private money to do it, he can move forward,” Senator Paul told a Louisville TV station.
A third proposal, released Tuesday by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley of Iowa, would allocate $1 billion for enhanced Secret Service security, including the “East Wing Modernization Project,” as part of the Republicans’ funding bill for immigration enforcement. The legislative text says the money may not be used for “non-security elements” of the project.
The flurry of legislation has fueled conspiracy theories that the latest alleged assassination attempt was staged to help Mr. Trump gain congressional approval and funding for his ballroom. But the funding aspect may not fly, political analysts say, given the optics around taxpayer money going to a presidential ballroom during a midterm campaign dominated by voter concerns about the cost of living.
Last week, for security reasons, the Department of Justice asked U.S. District Judge Richard Leon to lift his block on ballroom construction. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had already temporarily blocked Judge Leon’s ruling, allowing ballroom construction to proceed into June.
Mr. Trump’s goal is to complete the new ballroom – and the secure military complex directly beneath it – before he leaves office in January 2029.
Almost twice the size of the main White House edifice, the ballroom is meant to accommodate much larger events (up to 1,000 people) than the current mansion can (up to 250 people).
Over the decades, U.S. presidents have pitched tents on the White House’s South Lawn for larger events, hardly the elegant setting one might expect from the most powerful country in the world.
Changes to the White House are hardly unheard of. In 1948, President Harry S. Truman added a balcony to the south-facing side of the mansion. In the early 1960s, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy oversaw renovations to the White House funded with private donations.
But Mr. Trump, a real estate developer by profession, has plans much grander than a simple home renovation project. Beyond criticisms of Mr. Trump’s taste, ethical questions have swirled around donations to the ballroom – starting with the identity of donors and what they might be getting in return for their largesse.
Under the project’s fundraising contract, recently disclosed after the watchdog group Public Citizen sued for its release, many donors remain anonymous at their request. But a list of more than three dozen donors was released by the White House last fall, though the amounts of the donations were not revealed. Some donors, such as chipmaker Nvidia, revealed voluntarily that they donated to the White House ballroom.
In response to a query from the Monitor, a White House official said that contracts related to the White House executive residence have never been posted, for security reasons.
In the world of Trump fundraising, as overseen by the president’s chief campaign finance operative, Meredith O’Rourke, there are many other projects collecting donations.
“This is so much bigger than the ballroom,” says Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center in Washington. “There are so many other projects he’s raising money for in the same manner.”
Mr. Payne points to the Trump presidential library in Miami; The Trump Kennedy Center in Washington; the planned Garden of Heroes honoring noteworthy Americans, also in Washington; and Freedom 250, the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.
In some cases, such as the presidential library, private donations are the standard route for funding. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, now dubbed The Trump Kennedy Center, also has a long history of private fundraising – appropriately so, say ethics experts who stress that transparency on who is donating is essential to maintaining trust.
And in a way, Mr. Trump can’t win. He gets criticized for soliciting private donations for public projects, but he also gets criticized when Congress tries to fund such projects.
Kathleen Clark, a law professor and expert on government ethics at Washington University in St. Louis, sees the need for Congress to assert itself and exercise more oversight over the president.
“He is coercively extracting money from [donors] to fund his pet projects, and he’s done so without, at this point, any authorization or appropriation from Congress,” Professor Clark says.
Pakistani PM thanks Trump for pausing ‘Project Freedom’
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked President Trump’s suspension of the mission that saw US Navy vessels escort merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Project Freedom” had also seen a resumption of small-scale clashes with Iran reportedly firing on ships and the US sinking small boats in the strait.
Trump’s announcement of the suspension said the decision had been made at the request of Pakistan.
“Pakistan remains firmly committed to supporting all efforts that promote restraint and a peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy,” Sharif wrote on X.
“We are very hopeful that the current momentum will lead to a lasting agreement that secures durable peace and stability for the region and beyond,” he added.
Iran and US discussing 14-point peace deal — reports
The White House appears to be hopeful that it is close to sealing some form of agreement with Iran to end the war soon, according to an Axios report.
Citing unnamed US officials, Axios said that a one-page memorandum of understanding (MOU) was in the works and that the US expects an Iranian response on its key points within 48 hours.
The Axios source said the current efforts were the closest the two sides had been to finding an agreement since the war began.
According to the report, the 14-point MOU would declare an official end to the war and launch a 30-day period of negotiations during which Iran would begin to open the Strait of Hormuz.
The MOU also reportedly includes a moratorium on Iran’s nuclear enrichment, with sources telling Axios it would last at least 12 years, after which Iran would be able to enrich but only to a low level.
Iran would also commit to being open to UN inspections. Axios also cited sources saying the option of Iran moving its uranium stock was also being discussed.
Iran’s nuclear program has been a major sticking point for both sides. Washington has said Iran cannot keep the stockpile and has previously threatened to put boots on the ground to retrieve it. Tehran has maintained it is not seeking nuclear weapons while defending its right to pursue a civilian nuclear program.
DW could, of course, not independently verify the Axios reports, however, Reuters later cited a Pakistani source confirming it. “We will close this very soon. We are getting close,” the source told Reuters.
What are the sticking points in US-Iran peace negotiations?
China recognizes Iran’s right to ‘peaceful use of nuclear energy’
In further comments from China‘s foreign minister, Wang Yi called on all “parties involved” to make it possible for “normal and safe passage” to return to the Strait of Hormuz, after meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
“China considers that a complete cessation of fighting must be achieved without delay, that it is even more unacceptable to restart hostilities, and that continuing to negotiate remains essential,” he added, according to a statement from his ministry.
Wang also touched on the question of Iran’s nuclear program, a major sticking point in negotiations between the US and Iran, saying: “China appreciates Iran’s commitment not to develop nuclear weapons, while also recognizing Iran’s legitimate right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
Iran defies US pressure over nuclear, missile plans
China calls for ‘comprehensive ceasefire’ in talks with Iran
Araghchi’s visit to China is the first since the war began on February 28Image: Iranian Foreign Minister/Telegram/AP Photo/picture alliance
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was hosting his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Wang told Araghchi that Beijing was “deeply distressed” by the war and called for a “comprehensive ceasefire.”
“We believe that a comprehensive ceasefire is urgently needed, that a resumption of hostilities is not acceptable, and that it is particularly important to remain committed to dialogue and negotiations,” the Associated Press cited Wang as saying.
Iran is heavily dependent on China buying up its oil. Beijing was responsible for 80% of the purchases of Iranian oil before the war due to other countries not wanting to contravene US sanctions.
During the meeting, Araghchi said that the two countries were close friends and that bilateral “cooperation will even become stronger under current circumstances,” according to the Iranian Students’ News Agency.
The Iranian foreign minister also made clear that Tehran was not willing to accept an agreement that is not on its own terms.
“We will do our best to protect our legitimate rights and interests in the negotiations … We only accept a fair and comprehensive agreement,” Araghchi said.
French container ship reportedly targeted in Hormuz
The French shipping company CMA CGM has said that one of its container ships was subject to an “attack” while passing through the Strait of Hormuz, French TV channel BFMTV, which is owned by CMA CGM, reported.
The company said that the vessel, the San Antonio, had been damaged in the attack and several crew members had been injured.
According to the BFMTV report, those crew members had been evacuated and were receiving medical treatment.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the ship had been passing through the strait as part of the US-led “Project Freedom” that sought to escort ships with the US Navy. In any case, Washington declared that mission to be suspended on Tuesday evening.
Israel sends out evacuation warning for dozens of towns, villages in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military on Wednesday issued an urgent evacuation warning for the residents of 12 towns and villages in Lebanon’s south.
The military said that Hezbollah had violated a truce and civilians near the militant group’s fighter or facilities could be at risk.
“For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move away from the villages and towns by at least 1,000 metres into open areas,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson Avichay Adraee said in a statement on X.
Iran’s foreign minister meets with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing
For the first time since the Iran war began, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
China‘s state news agency, Xinhua, reported the meeting in Beijing, but did not provide details. Iranian state media also confirmed the meeting.
The Iran war was likely a central topic of discussion. Tehran and Beijing are close economic partners, with China being the largest buyer of Iranian oil. Beijing has been vocal in its criticism of US actions against Iran.
The meeting between the Iranian and Chinese foreign ministers occurred about a week before US President Donald Trump‘s scheduled visit to China. Washington has announced the trip, but Beijing has yet to confirm it.
The increasingly interlinked nature of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East was underlined in a phone call between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.
According to the US State Department, the call was initiated by Lavrov and the pair discussed “relations between the United States and Russia” in the context of both conflicts.
Trump says Project Freedom ‘paused’ to see whether Iran deal can be reached
US President Donald Trump said “Project Freedom” will be paused while the US strives to finalize a deal with Iran.
“Project Freedom” is the US effort to escort stranded ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.
At the same time, Trump said the US naval blockade on Iranian ports will remain in effect.
USA: Gasoline prices up 50% since start of Iran war
The price of gasoline in the United States has increased by 50% since the US and Israel went to war with Iran in February, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), which said that the price of a gallon of regular gasoline hit an average of $4.48 (€3.83) on Tuesday.
The price of crude oil, which is the main ingredient in gasoline, has been climbing because the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil normally passes, has effectively been shut, leaving oil tankers stranded.
US gas prices soar as Iran standoff fuels oil market fears
“After the announcement of the initial ceasefire, there was optimism that this could be the beginning of the end of the conflict,” Rob Smith, director of global fuel retail at S&P Global Energy, told the Associated Press.
“But no matter what a government says or what any market person thinks, upward pressure is being exerted on prices every day the Strait of Hormuz is constrained. And it is still severely constrained.”
The Iranian military on Tuesday “categorically denied” launching any attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this week, dismissing claims to the contrary as “completely unfounded.”
The UAE said earlier on Tuesday that its air defense systems were engaging missiles and drones coming “from Iran” for the second consecutive day, weeks into a fragile ceasefire.
“The armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran did not launch any missile or drone operation against the United Arab Emirates these past days,” the Iranian military’s central command said in a statement.
“If such an action had been taken, we would have announced it firmly and clearly,” it added, warning that any attacks launched from Emirati territory against Iran would be met with a “firm response.”
Iran has targeted the UAE more than any other country during the war, hitting not only US assets in the country but also energy and civilian infrastructure.
In its statement on Tuesday, the Iranian military issued a warning to the UAE, saying in reference to the United States and Israel: “Your country, as an Islamic land, must not become a haven for the Americans and the Zionists, their forces and military equipment.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday that offensive operations against Iran have ended.
“The operation is over – Epic Fury – as the president notified Congress, we’re done with that stage of it,” he told reporters at the White House, insisting that the United States was now only taking defensive action in enforcing its blockade of Iranian ports.
“We are only responding if attacked first. This is a defensive operation,” he said. “If no shots are fired at these ships and no shots are fired at us, we’re not firing shots, but if we’re fired on we will respond.”
Rubio also confirmed that ten civilian sailors have died during the ongoing conflict in the Strait of Hormuz.
“They’re isolated, they’re starving, they’re vulnerable and at least 10 sailors have died as a result, civilian sailors,” he said, without providing additional details.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has claimed that offensive operations against are over and that US forces will be acting purely defensively to enforce a blockade of Iranian ports.
Meanwhile, the Iranian military has denied launching attacks on the United Arab Emirates this week.
And back in the United States, the American Automobile Association reports that gasoline prices are up 50% since the start of the war.
Stay tuned for more thorughout the day in our blog.
Oil prices have fallen sharply and stock markets rose as Donald Trump touted “great progress” towards a “final agreement” with Iran.
The US president said he would briefly pause his “Project Freedom” operation escorting ships through the strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies but has been blockaded by Iran since late February, triggering a global energy crisis.
Trump said he was stopping the efforts for “a short period” so he could finalise a deal with Tehran but added that his blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place.
The news sent Brent crude oil – which had jumped as much as 6% earlier this week on the latest attacks in the Middle East – tumbling 9% to just above $100.
The crude price had been falling on Wednesday morning, and accelerated after a report by the Axios news site that the White House believes it is getting close to agreeing a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war with Iran. It said both sides were ready to set a framework for more detailed nuclear talks, citing four sources including two US officials.
the oil price had hit $126 a barrel last week, its highest level since 2022, after Trump said the US blockade of Iranian ports could last for months and peace talks remained stalled.
European stock markets rallied on Wednesday. The UK’s FTSE 100 index rose 2% in early trading, and France’s Cac 40 and Germany’s Dax were up about 2.7%.
MSCI’s All-Country World Index rose 0.4% to a fresh record alongside similar milestones for its emerging markets benchmark and its broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan, which jumped 2.8%.
The rally was led by a 6.6% surge in South Korea’s Kospi, which cleared the 7,000 mark for the first time. As the Seoul market reopened after a holiday, Samsung Electronics jumped by 14.8%, topping a $1tn market value, as it rode the boom in AI stocks.
Markets on Wall Street had hit fresh records on Tuesday as the S&P 500 rose 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1%.
On the bond market, UK long-term gilt yields dipped slightly after reaching their highest level since 1998 on Tuesday. The yield on 30-year gilts – which is the effective interest rate on the UK government’s long-term borrowing – slipped by about 5 basis points to 5.68%.
Gold, which is traditionally seen as a safe-haven asset, rose by almost 2.5% to $4,667 an ounce.
Trump’s latest comments came as the French shipping group CMA CGM said that one of its ships, the San Antonio, had been the target of an attack while crossing the strait of Hormuz.
The attack, which occurred on Tuesday, injured crew members and damaged the vessel, the company said, adding that it was “closely monitoring the situation and remains fully mobilised alongside the crew”.
The chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, Susannah Streeter, said: “A dam of tension has eased with relief flooding into financial markets, amid hopes that hostilities will cease in the Middle East, with the Trump administration making conciliatory moves.
“Relief is starting to seep into the bond markets, with UK gilt yields easing off amid hopes that inflation might not head quite as high if a longer-term resolution can be negotiated.”
The chief investment officer at the wealth management arm of UBS, Mark Haefele, said in a note to clients that Trump’s comments marked an “abrupt shift” from recent days, but with the strait still effectively closed, government bond yields still remained well above their normal levels.
“Futures pricing now expects about three 25-basis point rate hikes by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England over the next 12 months,” he said. “Markets also see no interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year and a 70% probability of a rate hike in 2027.”
The Bank of England kept rates on hold at 3.75% last week, but said the UK may need to brace for increases later this year.
Hey, do you all remember “Sleepy Joe” Biden, the president whose age and cognitive decline Donald Trump and his plague of MAGA lemmings routinely mocked?
Well, I have some news. In a living example of turnabout being fair play, 79-year-old President Trump himself is now viewed by a majority of Americans as being mentally and physically unfit to lead.
A recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that nearly 60% of Americans believe Trump isn’t mentally sharp enough to be president, and 55% think his physical health makes him unfit to lead.
Americans think Trump is just as mentally unfit as Biden was
By Trump’s own definition, he has become the worst president in history
A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll from late January showed 51% of registered voters thought Trump was doing a worse job than Biden. A February Rasmussen Reports poll found 48% of likely voters picked Biden as the better president, while 40% picked Trump. And a February YouGov/Economist poll found 46% of American adults thought Trump was worse than Biden.
I’m no math whiz, but I believe that by the transitive property, if Biden was the “worst president in history,” and people think Trump is doing a worse job than Biden, then Trump equals “the totally worstest – no reverses – president in history.”
That’s gotta hurt. And that polling was before the gas-price jumps and associated chaos that has come with Trump’s Iran folly.
Trump’s physical and cognitive decline is on vivid display
It doesn’t take much to understand why Americans are seeing Trump as feeble and doddering. The day I wrote this column, May 5, the president was in the Oval Office signing a memo to restore the Presidential Fitness Award for U.S. students.
Surrounded by kids, Trump got to ranting, both inappropriately and incoherently.
“We can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” he said, as the children looked on. “You might be too young for this. … They probably know better than most people. But you can’t let a bunch of lunatics have a nuclear weapon, or the world would be in trouble, the world would be in trouble. So we just hit records on the Dow, it was supposed to be done in five or six years, somebody said it couldn’t be possible to reach 50 on the Dow, and I reached 50 on the first year, and then I reached 7,000.”
Trump mocks Obama in front of literal children in the Oval Office
Trump mocked former President Barack Obama for phasing out the fitness award, turning it into the Presidential Youth Fitness Program, which focused more on the overall health of children rather than on competitive athletic performances.
“Then we had the Obama administration,” Trump said with disdain in, again, a room full of children. “Wonderful, wonderful person ‒ Barack Hussein Obama ‒ have you heard of him? We had the Obama administration, which phased out this wonderful tradition of physical fitness ‒ thank you Barack, very much. Great job.”
Godspeed to Republicans as they approach midterms with this clown
As Americans suffer economically, Trump rages relentlessly about building a precious ballroom on the White House grounds. He is shamelessly slapping his name on buildings, money, passports – anything he can get his self-aggrandizing hands on. He struggles to stay awake during meetings, his hands constantly show bruise marks that have never been believably explained, and his diatribes have grown lengthier, more digressive and less tethered to reality than ever.
Babbling Don is certainly not fooling the American people. There is no hiding his cognitive decline or his troubling impulsiveness. So now Republicans get to ride into the midterm elections with a wildly unpopular president who most voters see as wholly unfit for the job.
AP — Elections in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan on Tuesday reinforced a picture that’s becoming increasingly clear — while US President Donald Trump still dominates the Republican Party, Democrats seem to have the momentum ahead of November’s midterm elections.
The biggest test of Trump’s power came in Indiana, where he backed primary challenges against seven Republican state senators who rejected his redistricting plan in December. Five of the president’s candidates won with the help of an avalanche of cash.
Meanwhile in Michigan, a Democrat comfortably won a state Senate race in a bellwether district, the latest in a string of special election victories.
Over in Ohio, primaries locked in candidates for two major races with national implications.
Here are some takeaways from Tuesday night:
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Trump’s influence on the Republican Party remains strong
Trump took aim at seven Republican state senators in Indiana who opposed his plan to redraw congressional district boundaries to help the party gain seats in the US House. His intervention mostly paid off.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks as US President Donald Trump listens before the signing of a proclamation in the Oval Office at the White House, May 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Groups allied with the president spent more than $8.3 million on advertising, an extraordinary surge of money into races that are typically low-profile.
Five Trump-backed challengers won. One incumbent won. A seventh contest was too close to call on Tuesday night.
The races were a test of Trump’s enduring grip over his party as Republicans grow increasingly anxious about the midterm elections.
By winning most of them, Trump sent a signal to Republicans everywhere that they can still get thrown out of office if they distance themselves from him even as his popularity fades. And they show the president that he can still credibly threaten consequences for Republicans who cross him.
The Trump-targeted state senators all represent districts he carried in 2024, mostly by 20 percentage points or more.
“Historic night for Indiana as Republicans stood with me and President Trump to nominate some great America First conservatives,” Republican Gov. Mike Braun, who backed Trump’s challengers, wrote on social media.
US Vice President JD Vance, alongside his son Vivek, votes in the state’s primary election, May 5, 2026, in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Roberto Schmidt /Pool Photo via AP)
Ohio races now get started in earnest
The state’s primary was the wind-up to the big show. Although Ohio has become increasingly conservative, Democrats believe their path back to a US Senate majority runs through the state.
They’re putting their hopes behind former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who lost Ohio’s other Senate seat to Bernie Moreno in 2024. Brown easily won the Democratic nomination Tuesday and will face off with Republican Sen. Jon Husted, who was appointed last year to fill the vacancy created when JD Vance became vice president.
The race is a special election to fill the last two years of Vance’s term.
Brown has consistently done better in Ohio than Democratic presidential candidates as the state has shifted to the right. Even in 2024, when Democrat Kamala Harris lost Ohio to Trump by 11 points, Brown lost by less than 4 points.
In the campaign for governor, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy has parlayed his national name recognition, tech industry connections and alliance with Trump into a record fundraising haul. He largely ignored Republican rival Casey Putsch, focusing his rallies and television ads on the general election, and won the primary decisively.
An engineer and vehicle designer who calls himself “The Car Guy,” Putsch attracted fans with provocative YouTube videos that trolled Ramaswamy and criticized national Republicans over their handling of the Epstein files, positions on energy-guzzling data centers and support for Israel.
Ramaswamy will face Amy Acton, Ohio’s former public health director, who ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination. She played a key role in the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chedrick Greene, Democratic candidate for 35th Senate District, takes a selfie with supporters after speaking, May 5, 2026 in Saginaw, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Another special election, another big swing toward Democrats
Special elections have swung almost universally toward Democrats since Trump returned to the White House, and the trend continued Tuesday in central Michigan.
Democrat Chedrick Greene won a state Senate seat in a closely matched district where Harris bested Trump by less than 1 point in 2024.
It’s just one special election months out from the midterms, but in a preeminent battleground like Michigan, all political tea leaves are carefully analyzed. The state has one of the top US Senate contests this November and is crucial in deciding presidential elections.
The race carries outsized importance for another reason, too. Greene’s victory gives Democrats a firm majority in the state Senate, while a Republican win would have deadlocked the chamber in a 19-19 tie.
The seat has been vacant for more than a year, since Democrat Kristen McDonald Rivet resigned to take a seat in Congress.
Democrats are showing surprising strength in special elections and off-year contests across the country, winning races in unexpected places and significantly narrowing the gap, even when they fall short.
There’s no guarantee the trend will continue through the midterms, when turnout will be much higher, but it has nonetheless energized Democrats and spooked Republicans worried about keeping their congressional majorities.
